Solve for $x$ and $y$ using elimination. ${-x-5y = -24}$ ${-3x-6y = -45}$
Explanation: We can eliminate $x$ by adding the equations together when the $x$ coefficients have opposite signs. Multiply the top equation by $-3$ ${3x+15y = 72}$ $-3x-6y = -45$ Add the top and bottom equations together. $9y = 27$ $\dfrac{9y}{{9}} = \dfrac{27}{{9}}$ ${y = 3}$ Now that you know ${y = 3}$ , plug it back into $\thinspace {-x-5y = -24}\thinspace$ to find $x$ ${-x - 5}{(3)}{= -24}$ $-x-15 = -24$ $-x-15{+15} = -24{+15}$ $-x = -9$ $\dfrac{-x}{{-1}} = \dfrac{-9}{{-1}}$ ${x = 9}$ You can also plug ${y = 3}$ into $\thinspace {-3x-6y = -45}\thinspace$ and get the same answer for $x$ : ${-3x - 6}{(3)}{= -45}$ ${x = 9}$